Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The Titans play their home games at Nissan Stadium and are building a new stadium in 2024. It will be completed in 2027.
Tennessee Titans
Originally known as the Houston Oilers, the team was founded in 1959 by Houston oil tycoon Bud Adams, who remained the owner until his death in 2013. The team began play in 1960 in Houston, Texas, as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The Oilers won the first two AFL championships along with four division titles, and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The Oilers made playoff appearances from 1978 to 1980 and from 1987 to 1993, with Hall of Famers Earl Campbell and Warren Moon, respectively.
In 1997, the Oilers relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, playing at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis for one season while waiting for a new stadium to be constructed. The team moved to Nashville's Vanderbilt Stadium in 1998. For those two seasons, the team was known as the Tennessee Oilers, but changed its name to the Titans for the 1999 season, when they moved into Adelphia Coliseum, now known as Nissan Stadium. The Titans' training facility is in Saint Thomas Sports Park, a 31-acre site at the MetroCenter complex in Nashville.[7]
The Titans played in Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, losing 23–16 to the St. Louis Rams. Led by Steve McNair and Eddie George, the Titans made the playoffs in all but one season from 1999 to 2003, but only twice in the next 13 years. From 2016 to 2021, the Titans had six consecutive winning seasons and four playoff appearances. The Titans are the only NFL team to have two players rush for 2,000 yards in a season, Chris Johnson (2009) and Derrick Henry (2020).
Culture[edit]
Flameheads[edit]
During the Titans' first season in its new stadium, the end zone sections became known as the Flame Pit and fans began wearing head wear resembling flames.[42] Called "Flameheads", the costumes became prevalent during the Titans' successful years of the early 2000s.[43][44][45] Flames are tied to the organization because in Greek Mythology, the Titan Prometheus stole fire and gave it to humanity.
Cheerleaders and mascot[edit]
The Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders represent the team in the NFL. They perform at every home game in Nissan Stadium and regularly do acts with the team's mascot T-Rac. They have 28 members with four captains.[46] They perform a variety of dance moves and high-risk stunts. They attend community events in Middle Tennessee.
T-Rac is the raccoon mascot of the Titans, debuting in the team's inaugural preseason home game in August 1999 against the Atlanta Falcons. The raccoon is the state animal of Tennessee. T-Rac appears at every game in Nissan Stadium and performs at community events in Tennessee.
Stadium traditions[edit]
During every home game's 4th quarter, the stadium plays a video of "office linebacker" Terry Tate, performed by Lester Speight, shouting his catchphrase, "the pain train's coming"! The phrase is followed by the playing of "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash.
After every Titans first down at Nissan Stadium, the jumbotron plays a scene from the movie 300, where the Spartans chant after King Leonidas asks, "What is your profession?" Titans fans simultaneously perform the chant three times, "OOH! OOH! OOH!" The chant debuted in video game form in Madden NFL 22.
Titans Ring of Honor[edit]
In 1999, Adams established a Titans/Oilers Hall of Fame after the 40th season of the franchise to honor past players and management, with the first class being seven that were all inducted on December 9, 1999.[47] It was changed to Oilers/Titans Ring of Honor in 2008.[48] Bum Phillips, Jeff Fisher and Floyd Reese were inducted in 2021. Billy "White Shoes" Johnson is the most recent inductee.[49][50][51]
